University of Tasmania, Australia

The role of metal catalysts in the breakdown of greenhouse gases

Computational chemistry will be used to design highly-tuned chemical systems for specific manipulation of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and other small molecules which are important in industry and the environment. This ARC-funded project involves the careful study of various combinations of metals, oxidation states and ligands in order to predict the best catalysts for the breakdown of greenhouse gases. Students will become proficient in the application of computational chemistry methods to probe mechanisms of reactions in a variety of organometallic processes.